Apparatus for dispensing rolled paper



' c. D. DAVIS APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ROLLED PAPER Aug. 27, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1961 IN VEN TOR. 44 r/MBflW/s BY 2 Wz47'7OF/Vf) 27, 1963 c. D. DAVIS 3,101,913

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ROLLED PAPER Filed April 11. 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 j i ,4; INVENTOR.

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3,101,913 APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ROLLED PAPER Calvin D. Davis, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor of one-fifth to Gary Mohi, Los Angeles, Calif.Filed Apr. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 102,301 4 Claims. (Cl. 24255.53)

The present invention relates to apparatus for dispensing paper inprecisely measured lengths from a roll of paper.

In dispensing premium stamps, postage stamps, or precisely measuredlengths of paper for other purposes, certain unique problems have arisenwhich had not heretofore been satisfactorily solved. A basic mechanicaldispensing apparatus that was entirely satisfactory did not exist. Sideslippage and longitudinal slippage of the paper roll resulted in jammingthe machine, errors of measurement, or both. Machines that were reliablyconstructed were too complex, too bulky, and too difiicult to operate.

One object of the invention, therefore, is to provide an apparatus fordispensing paper in precisely measured lengths from a roll of paper,which has a higher degree of measurement'accuracy than machinesheretofore available.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of theforegoing type which is simple in construction, cheap to manufacture,and easy to operate.

.A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of theforegoing type in which the replenishment of the paper roll supply maybe quickly and easily accomplished by an unskilled operator.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus asaforesaid which is particularly well adapted to be automaticallycontrolled by electronic means.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morereadily apparent from the following description considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective, partially cutaway view of the presentlypreferred form of the invention in fully assembled form;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the machine with the carriage raised forreplenishing the paper supply; and

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the machine partially cutaway to illustratethe paper drive mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, an elongated housing indicated generallyas A has parallel side walls 10, 11 within which the operating parts ofthe apparatus are housed. A paper roll carriage -B is also ofrectangular configuration, having parallel side walls 12 and 13. A paperroll C is removably carried in the rnid-portion of carriage B and isrotatable about an axis transverse to the side walls 12, 13. A drum D istransversely disposed within one end of housing A and rotatably carriedthereby. A paper guide E is carried by the corresponding end of carriageiB, and adjacent thereto and carried on the extreme end portion ofcarriage B is a guide roller F.

The other end of the carriage B is pivotally supported from the otherend of housing A, this being accomplished by a shaft 17 having one endwhich passes through the side walls 10, 12 while its other end passesthrough the side walls 11, 13. A latch mechanism G is carried on thecarriage B just above the paper guide E, and this latch mechanism isutilized for the purpose of securing carriage B in place when themachine is to be operated.

Carri-age B has an aligned pair of vertical slots 22, 23 which areformed in its side walls 12, 13 respectively. Paper roll C is carried ona shaft 19 whose ends rest in the bottoms of the slots 22, 23. Thecarriage B is a gen- 3,l 1,9l3 Patented Aug. 27, 1963 erally openstructure so that the paper roll C is easily accessible either fromabove or below. More specifically, at its pivoted end the carriage B isclosed ofl only by the pivot shaft 17 and a fixed cross piece 18. At itsfree end, which swings up and down when the machine is opened forreplenishing the paper supply or for other purposes, the carriage B isentirely open except for the structural members associated with paperguide E, guide roller F, and latch mechanism G.

When carriage B is in its locked or operating position the guide rollerF engages the surface of drum D somewhat to the right of center, as bestseen in FIGURE 4. The axis of rotation 19 of paper roll C, the axis ofrotation of drum D represented by a shaft 25, and the axis of rotationof guide roller F represented by its shaft 26, are then all preciselyparallel. The angle between paper roll 0 and guide roller F, as viewedfrom drum axis 25, is somewhat more than 95, and preferably about 105".A paper output chute 29 is rigidly supported from the side Walls 10, 11of housing A, and thus assures that the free end 20 of paper coming offthe roll goes onto and over the drum D rather than beneath it. A portionof the chute 29 extends on the output side of drum D as best seen inFIGURES 1 and 4. A paper weight 30 rests upon paper strip 20 above theoutput portion of chute 29. Guillotine blade 31 is carried in verticalslots 32 in the ends of side walls 10, 11 of housing A and may beactuated up and down for cutting off that portion of the paper rollwhich protrudes beyond the output chute 29.

In the operating positionof carriage B, paper guide E occupies aposition as best seen in FIGURE 4. More specifically, the paper guide isa solid piece which extends transversely between side walls 12, 13 ofcarriage B but which is curved in the plane of the side walls. Theradius of curvature of paper guide E is somewhat I greater than (theradius of drum D. The upper extremity of the paper guide as seen inFIGURE 4 lies at a point 34 adjacent the guide roller F, and the lowerextremity lies at a point 35 which is almost in longitudinal alignmentbetween axis 19 of paper roll C and axis 25 of drum D. At its lowerextremity 35 the guide is provided with an upwardly curved edge whichsmoothly guides the moving paper strip 20.

The shaft 26 of guide roller F is received in the outer ends of a pairof supporting arms 3%, 39. A shaft 4%] extends between the side Walls12, 13 above the upper extremity 134 of paper guide E. The outer ends ofshaft 40 are rotatably carried in and protrude beyond the respectiveside walls 1-2, 13, where they are rigidly fastened to the ends ofcorresponding arms 33, 39. Thus as shaft 40 rotates the shaft 26 movesup or down, bringing guide roller F out of or into engagement with thesurface of drum D. A torsion spring 41 is carried on shaft 40 and has aprojecting tongue 42 that engages the upper surface of paper guide E.The effect of torsion spring 41 is to at all times cause shaft 40 totend to ro- "rate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 4, andit therefore biases guide roller F toward drum D.

It is significant to note, as seen in FIGURE 4, that the longitudinalaxis of arms 38, 39 is exactly perpendicu- 1311 to the radius of drum Dthat passes through the center of shaft '26. Therefore, a slight up ordown movement of guide roller F creates no longitudinal change in theposition of the guide roller that would affect the precision ofmeasurement of the paper length to be dispensed.

The driving action is imparted to drum D, via its shaft 26, or throughother suitable means. A direct drive arrangement is used in which thedrum is rotated a predetermined amount so as to feed a correspondinglength of paper from roll C through the output chute 29 and thencebeyond the guillotine blade 31. A change in the longitudinal tension ofthe paper occurs at the beginning and end of each dispensing operation.The purpose of paper weight 36 is to prevent any backfeed of the paperat the end of a dispensing operation when the forward rotation of drum Dhas been stopped.

A very significant feature of the present invention is the interactionbetween drum D and guide roller F in precisely controlling thelongitudinal movement of the paper. Drum D has a cylindrical surfacewith longitudinally extending rigid serrations 45 formed thereon, theseserrations being best seen in FIGURES l and 4. Drum D has a metaldriving surface in which longitudinal grooves are out so as to form therigid serrations 45. Guide roller F has a cylindrical surface upon whichcircumferentially extending resilient serrations 47 are formed. Guideroller F includes a rigid cylindrical base member 48 upon whose exteriorsurface a number of neoprene Orings are stretch-fitted. Each of theseO-rings provides one of the resilient serrations 47.

The action of paper guide E is such as to draw the paper tightly againstthe dnum surface prior to the point where the paper is grasped betweendrum D and guide roller F. The cooperative aotion of drum D and guideroller F is such that the paper being dispensed exhibits no measurablelongitudinal slippage relative to the surface of drum D. Furthermore,the paper is not torn or distorted. If the paper strip being presentedto the guide E should happen to be skewed sidewise, as for example, inconnection with loading a new roll of paper into the machine, this wouldcreate no difficulty because the normal operation of drum D and guideroller F in dispensing the paper causes any such error in alignment tobe correcited.

An important feature of the guide roller construction is that theneoprene material displaces or flows, rather than compressing. It isalso significant that the neoprene material has a high coeflieient offriction with paper. The spring pressure is so adjusted that a certainamount of distortion or flow of the neoprene rings takes place, but wellwithin the range of the maximum possible distortion or flow. Theinteraction between the metal serrations of drum D and the neoprenerings of guide roller F is similar to that of two gear Wheels in a geardrive. However, the paper is not damaged, as it would be if fed throughconventional gear wheels.

As seen in FIGURE 1 the guide roller F is provided with several groupsof the neoprene rings, with all of the rings of each group being placedtightly together while a considerable space exists between adjacentgroups. In accordance with the invention this mode of construction ispreferred, with drum D having a corresponding circumferential groove(not shown) corresponding to each gap between groups of neoprene rings,the drum groove in turn being occupied by a corresponding sepanatesection of the paper output chute 29.

While in the illustrated mechanism the power drive is supplied to drum Dit is equally feasible to supply the power drive to guide roller F. Thearrangement could also be inverted in another manner by placing theneoprene rings upon drum D while forming the rigid longitudinalserrations upon the surface of guide roller F, and satisfactoryoperation would still be achieved.

The invention has been described in considerable detail in order tocomply with the patent laws by providing a full public disclosure of atleast one of its forms. However, such detailed description is notintended in any way to limit the broad features or principles of theinvention, or the scope of patent monopoly to be granted.

1 claim:

'1. Apparatus for dispensing paper in precisely measured lengths from aroll of paper, comprising, in combination: an elongated housing; a drumtransversely disposed within one end of said housing and rotatablycarried thereby, said drum having a cylindrical surface withlongitudinally extending rigid serrations formed thereon; a paper rollcarriage having parallel side walls, disposed within said housing andcarrying a rotatable guide roller at one end thereof, said guide rollerhaving a cylindrical surface with circumferentially extending resilientserrations formed thereon, the other end of said carriage beingpivotally supported from the other end of said housing; a paper rollremovably carried in the midportion of said carriage and rotatable aboutan axis transverse to said side walls thereof; latch means for latchingsaid one end of said carriage in a fixed position relative to saidhousing and drum, in which the axes of rotation of said drum, paperroll, and guide roller are precisely parallel to each other, the surfaceof said guide roller is engageable with said drum surface, and the angleof separation between said guide roller and said paper roll is somewhatmore than measured relative to said drum axis; a paper guide fixedlycarried by said carriage, and in said fixed position of said carriageextending adjacent said drum from a point near said guide roller to apoint nearly in longitudinal alignment between the axes of said paperroll and said drum, so that paper drawn from said paper roll is heldtightly against said drum prior to the point where it is grasped betweensaid drum and said guide roller; and means for rotatable driving saiddrum.

2 Paper dispensing apparatus, comprising, in combination: a drum havinga cylindrical surface with longitudinally extending rigid serrationsformed thereon; a guide roller having a cylindrical surface withcircumferentially extending resilient serrations formed thereon; supportmeans for rotatably supporting said guide roller and said drum withtheir axes of rotation parallel to each other whereby the respectiveserrations thereof are mutually perpendicular, and including springmeans for biasing said guide roller and said drum together insurface-to-surface engagement; paper guide means for presenting a stripof paper in a direction perpendicular to the axes of said drum and saidguide roller and parallel to said engaging surfaces thereof so as to begrasped therebetween; and drive means for drivingly rotating one of saiddrum and guide roller.

3. Paper dispensing apparatus, comprising, in combination:

a drum having a cylindrical surface with longitudinally extending rigidserrations formed thereon;

a guide roller having a cylindrical surface with circumferentiallyextending resilient serrations formed thereon;

support means for rotatably supporting said guide roller and said drumwith their axes of rotation parallel to each other, and including springmeans operable for biasing said guide roller toward said drum in adirection radial to the drum axis;

paper guide means for presenting a strip of paper in a directionperpendicular to the axes of said drum and said guide roller andparallel to the engaging surfaces thereof so as to be graspedtherebetween, including a paper roll rotatably supported upon an axisprecisely parallel to said drum axis in a position such that the angularseparation between said guide roller and said paper roll is somewhatmore than 95 measured relative to said drum axis, a fixed paper guideextending adjacent said drum from a point near said guide roller to apoint nearly in longitudinal alignment between the axes of said paperroll and said drum so that paper drawn from said paper roll is heldtightly against said drum surface prior to the point where it is graspedbetween said drum and guide roller surfaces;

and drive means for drivingly rotating said drum in a predetermineddirection so as to draw the paper from said paper roll.

paper guide means for presenting a strip of paper to said drum and saidguide roller so as to be grasped I therebetween;

and drive means for drivingly rotating one of said drum and guideroller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OBrienNov. 4, 1924 Kellogg Apr. 23, 1935 Hall Feb. 25, 1936 Steiner July 9,1940

3. PAPER DISPENSING APPARATUS, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A DRUM HAVINGA CYLINDRICAL SURFACE WITH LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING RIGID SERRATIONSFORMED THEREON; A GUIDE ROLLER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL SURFACE WITHCIRCUMFERENTIALLY EXTENDING RESILINET SERRATIONS FORMED THEREON; SUPPORTMEANS FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID GUIDE ROLLER AND SAID DRUM WITHTHEIR AXES OF ROTATION PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, AND INCLUDING SPRINGMEANS OPERABLE FOR BIASING SAID GUIDE ROLLER TOWARD SAID DRUM IN ADIRECTION RADIAL TO THE DRUM AXIS; PAPER GUIDE MEANS FOR PRESENTING ASTRIP OF PAPER IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXES OF SAID DRUM ANDSAID GUIDE ROLLER AND PARALLEL TO THE ENGAGING SURFACES THEREOF, SO ASTO BE GRASPED THEREBETWEEN, INCLUDING A PAPER ROLL ROTATABLY SUPPORTEDUPON AN AXIS PRECISELY PARALLEL TO SAID DRUM AXIS IN A POSITION SUCHTHAT THE ANGULAR SEPARATION BETWEEN SAID GUIDE ROLLER AND SAID PAPERROLL IS SOMEWHAT MORE THAN 95* MEASURED RELATIVE TO SAID DRUM AXIS, AFIXED PAPER GUIDE EXTENDING ADJACENT SAID DRUM FROM A POINT NEAR SAIDGUIDE ROLLER TO POINT NEARLY IN LONGITUDINAL ALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE AXESOF SAID PAPER ROLL AND SAID DRUM SO THAT PAPER DRAWN FROM SAID PAPERROLL IS HELD TIGHTLY AGAINST SAID DRUM SURFACE PRIOR TO THE POINT WHEREIT IS GRASPED BETWEEN SAID DRUM AND GUIDE ROLLER SURFACES; AND DRIVEMEANS FOR DRIVINGLY ROTATING SAID DRUM IN A PREDETERMINED DIRECTION SOAS TO DRAW THE PAPER FROM SAID PAPER ROLL.